5 - A RWBY Joke
by SorrowfulReincarnation
Summary: Heading out to a bar after a stressful day of work at the station, Caitlyn did expect a lot of things, seeing as she would be there with Vi and the enforcer's roommate. What she certainly didn't expect, though, was to make the acquaintance of four very different young women that couldn't work any better together. Set in the 'Bad Day'-Universe after its finale.


**Information****:** **This one-shot is the fifth installment to my Leauge of Legends 'Bad Day'-Series - focusing on Caitlyn, Vi and Jinx - and is with that the second installment after the main series has come to an end. Since it is set after the three main installments 'A Killing Joke', 'A Joke of Nature', and 'A Final Joke', I highly advise you to read at least these three first, and optionally the fourth installment too, in order to not be spoiled and/or understand everything in this. You have been warned.**

_This is a crossover with Roosterteeth's RWBY-series, and was written in honor of the late Monty Oum._

* * *

_**A RWBY Joke**_

"Cupcake!"

"Hat Lady!"

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Caitlyn slumped her shoulders and put her pen down, right next to the report she had been working on for the past hour. It's a Friday evening, the sun had set already and the street lights had turned on, illuminating the still snowy streets in steady distances, bright circles on the otherwise mostly empty streets.

Looking up from the report, she found an excited duo of sisters before her, the same stupid grin on each of their faces. Seeing that, Caitlyn found herself more surprised than ever before that she never considered them being related a possibility before the more recent events, as not only their grins, but their overall facial features resembled each other greatly. The same thin lips, the same shape of their heads and eyes, the same nose. The same stupid grin.

That they're grinning, though, took her by surprise. They hadn't exactly been elated when she announced that the three of them would be working overtime on a Friday evening, taking care of the reports that had piled up over the weeks. In fact, Jinx's face had been priceless when Caitlyn had presented her the entire 'Harlequin Case' – Jinx's own, 'closed' case – to go through over the course of the new year. Only Jinx would know if everything stated in the reports would be right.

Besides, revenge was a dish best served cold. The idea that Jinx could take care of her own case had been something that Caitlyn had come up with after Jinx had pushed her down into the snow and had covered her beneath a thick layer of it on New Year's Eve – her idea of a joke.

Also one of Jinx's weird views on things was her idea of fireworks. For her, it was less about the flashy factor than it was about the explosions, the power and the volume. In Jinx's words, 'If you're not deaf after every explosion, then you're doing it wrong!'.

But despite the fact that the three of them had been working overtime, on a Friday no less, and neither of the sisters were particularly fond of paperwork, both of them seemed excited for some reason. And it made Caitlyn feel uneasy, knowing that the reason behind it probably wasn't to her liking.

"Can I help you?" inquired the sheriff eventually, sending a glance past the two sisters to the other two desks in the office. Yes, Jinx had been moved into their office as well due to lack of space in the other room. At first, the loose cannon had offered to move into a broom closet, saying that it had to be cool to work in there, and then had offered to work in the closet beneath the stairs – the station didn't even have stairs – until an owl would bring her a very important letter. Something about magic.

Neither Vi, nor Caitlyn had taken Jinx serious. And that's how the explosives expert ended up getting a desk in the office of Piltover's finest. That, and she had to be better observed at all times, the unspoken rule between Caitlyn and Vi after all the chaos on Christmas Eve.

Still, Jinx's desk was, just like Vi's desk, still covered in unfinished reports.

"Actually, you can!" exclaimed Jinx with a big grin, leaning over the sheriff's desk, "Can you finish my paperwork for me? Pretty please with cream and a cherry on top?"

Caitlyn and Vi frowned as Jinx began to unleash her 'Puppy Dog Pout' and blinked several times, obviously trying to look cute. Didn't work as much as she had intended to, of course.

"That's not what we wanted to ask." commented the enforcer, only to do a double-take as Jinx leaned even further over the desk, closer to Caitlyn, and began to play with the cleavage of her own uniform, trying to give Caitlyn a peek. Faster than the maniac had thought, her head slammed into the wood of Caitlyn's desk, and it wasn't even a gauntlet that pushed her down onto it, merely her sister's bare hand.

"I told you to stop flirting with my girlfriend, Jay." growled Vi lowly, eyelids twitching in anger, "But then again, you told me to never go for the head first the night of your 'killing joke', since it makes the victim all fuzzy. I think we're even now."

Letting Jinx go, the woman with the electric-blue hair shot up and quickly reached for her bruised forehead, tears in her eyes. For a second, Caitlyn could've sworn Jinx's forehead was even flatter than usual.

"No, Cupcake, we came to ask something different. Something more serious." began the enforcer anew, though Jinx apparently, despite the pain, wasn't done with her joke. Turning her back to the duo, she glanced at them over her own shoulder.

"Can you at least scratch my back, hat lady? There's this spot that I just can't ge...AH!" letting out a shriek of painful glee as Vi's fist hit her into the back, the madwoman sunk to the ground, landed flat on her face, stopped moving altogether, save for the thumbs-up she was giving them, "That was the spot!"

"Actually, Cait, we figured it was enough for today. We've been here since hours, and there's still enough paperwork for at least five more Fridays of overtime. And I think that that's what we should do."

"Five nights of overtime 3 confirmed." snickered Jinx as she rose from the ground and rolled her shoulders, tilted her head, "Now lacking animatronics but featuring paperwork."

"I have no clue what you are talking about, but it gives me the creeps for some reason, Jay." muttered Vi to her older sister.

"Fat Hands is not getting my words, Half-Death 3 confirmed."

"Jinx, please." sighed the sheriff, knowing she had to stop this before it escalated into yet another Christmas-like fiasco, "But fine, you're right. We did more than enough for the day, and I guess that staying a little overtime each Friday isn't too bad of an idea."

The sheriff quickly picked up her pen again and put her signature onto the last page of the report before her, then closed it and pushed it aside. She, too, did feel somewhat tired, and the prospect of going home to the apartment she shared with the sisters did sound tempting.

"We should head home for the night." she added and reached for her hat.

"Actually..." began Vi all of sudden, leaving Caitlyn to stop and frown up at her, hat already in hand, "Actually, Jay and I thought it would be a good idea to go for a drink. You know, just a few, to relax. And then go home."

Caitlyn stopped and turned her gaze to the unlike sisters, rose an eyebrow at this new information. Vi and Jinx heading out to a bar? Together? That couldn't end well.

Before her inner eye, Caitlyn already saw the broken doors to some pub, the neon sign above it askew, fire burning inside the building, the two sisters standing awkwardly in front of it as people fled in panic and sirens could be heard in the distance. Caitlyn shuddered at the image, knowing that this outcome was, sadly, very likely if the sisters weren't kept in line.

And she dreaded the amount of additional paperwork that would mean.

On the other hand, Vi and Jinx needed more of these moments. More time together. Even now, way over a month after the night that Jinx had almost died in, the interactions between the sisters were awkward at times. They needed more time to find together again.

Not necessarily worth the additional paperwork and the chaos that was destined to unfold if she let them go. But for their sake, she ignored the chance that they might cause a lot of chaos and chose not to say anything.

"I see." replied the sheriff and put her hat onto her head, thinking over the whole thing again. It probably really wasn't that much of a bad idea to let them go. After all, how likely was it that they'd destroy everything? The two of them had changed since that fateful night. That other bad day. Jinx was trying to become a better person – while still embracing her insanity to the fullest. She had been proven wrong, after all. Despite the bad day, there was still a chance for her. A light, as small as it was, that could give her hope, and was resistant to her attempts to blow it out.

So yeah, they were still Vi and Jinx. Vi was still being herself, with all the obsession with mechanics, was still picking fights and still enjoyed the occasional drink, and bragged as much as she could. And Jay, Jinx? Still obsessed with mechanics, still insane and unpredictable, still random, still had the same weird humor, and still enjoyed to tease and taunt Vi. They still fought over the most petty things, they still enjoyed to outsmart each other in random bets and contests, and still clashed all the time. But on a more sisterly level.

The sheriff enjoyed seeing those little changes, always had to fight a smile when she saw another little change in the interactions between Vi and Jinx, no matter how little they really were – Like Jinx handing Vi something during breakfast, rather than telling Vi to stop being lazy and get it herself.

Caitlyn adjusted her hat, shifted it a bit until it was comfortable and didn't block her sight. She rolled her shoulders, glanced over the files on her desk again. Still too many to work on, but if they would indeed work overtime on Fridays, they should be able to get them all done in a few weeks.

She rose her gaze with the intention to assess the amount of files on Vi's and Jinx's desks. Of course, the pile of files that Vi had gone through already was taller than that of Jinx, with the loose cannon having less experience with the paperwork than the enforcer. That aside, Jinx had the countless pages of the 'Harlequin Case' to deal with over the course of the year, and had told Caitlyn that she'd do a few pages every few days. Also, there was that weird device – some kind of modified and horrible malformed radio that Jinx had been tinkering with the whole week – on top of the stack of paper.

But it shouldn't be the only thing that Caitlyn should see upon looking into that direction. What really caught her attention, though, were the expectant stares of the two unlike sisters. She frowned, rose an eyebrow at the two. Had she done something wrong? Had she missed a question?

"Excuse me?" she muttered, gaze darting back and forth in between Vi, who still stood in front of her desk, and Jinx by the loose cannon's desk, "Do you need something?"

She knew that she had phrased it wrong the moment that Jinx's confused stare lit up in a big smirk. She had just given the loose cannon another opportunity for a weird joke that neither of them would understand, she knew that much.

"I need scissors! 61!" bellowed the loose cannon in a weird high-pitched scream, but was ignored when Vi spoke up as well.

"Well, actually, yeah..." began Vi and rubbed the back of her neck, chuckled uneasily, "Actually, Jay and I wondered if you'd want to tag along. You know, have a drink with us to celebrate the end of the week, and start the weekend with a bang."

Caitlyn's eyebrow rose higher.

"Or silent and relaxed." added the enforcer quickly, sheepish. Had almost forgotten that her girlfriend wasn't one for loud and wild parties. At least she had saved herself. She hoped.

The sheriff chuckled at the enforcer's attempt to save her invitation, but nodded gently to herself with a smile on her lips as she assessed the files on her desk again. Lots of work. Work she needed some time away from, to relax and get a clear head. Yet she had intended to take some work home for the weekend. Wasn't one for drinking, partying or long nights. Not her kind of activity.

But Vi was right. The paperwork could wait for once, she needed time off as well. No matter how hard she worked, she was only human, after all.

Besides, that way, she could keep the sisters in line.

"Sure, count me in. I haven't had a little time off in quite a while." replied the sheriff eventually, rose her gaze and smiled at the two sisters. Jinx immediately began to cheer – although surprisingly silent compared to her usual self – and Vi rose her eyebrows in surprise. She hadn't expected Caitlyn to agree directly, without any further persuasion.

When the gravity of Caitlyn's words sunk in, though, the enforcer couldn't help but smile herself. She and Jinx had wondered if Caitlyn would accept, even with persuasion – for her to agree just like that was unexpected, but a welcome occurrence.

The sisters shared a smile, unknowingly missing it as the sheriff turned the lamp on her desk off and locked the files into her desk. It wasn't before Caitlyn had already moved over to the door that they noticed it.

"You two coming, or what?" laughed Caitlyn and held the door open, "The pubs won't hit themselves."

Vi let out a quick gasp and rushed over to her own desk, quickly locking the files into it, and picking up her gauntlets as she hurried to the door and slipped past Caitlyn. The sheriff giggled to herself and followed, leaving Jinx to lock her own amount of work into her desk and pick up her three weapons – Fishbones, Pow-Pow and Zap.

"Wait for me!" she shrieked as she swung Fishbones over her shoulder onto her back, "Ugh, Fishbones, that's it, you're going on diet! You put on weight again!"

With Fishbones in it's usual spot on her back, Zap strapped onto her thigh and Pow-Pow in it's folded up shape at her waist, the ex-criminal stumbled through the room in an attempt to catch up with her sister and her soon-to-be sister-in-law, turned back to quickly snatch the weird device from her desk, and rushed towards the door again.

And froze up in the middle of the room in realization.

"Dang it! I should've said 'Five nights at Caitlyn's'! That would've been so much better!"

"Urgh...! Turn the lights off, close the door and just follow us, Jay!"

* * *

"There we are!" exclaimed Vi as they rounded a final corner and ended up in a small parking lot in front of a bar, which, according to Vi herself, the enforcer was a regular at. 'Restless Spirits', it read in big green neon letters over the entrance, so bright that it illuminated the entrance to a small alley aside the bar.

Caitlyn rose an eyebrow, but couldn't deny that the bar looked decent enough. Through the large windows at the front of the bar, one could see the nicely illuminated interior of the bar, the dark spruce wood tables and the comfy chairs and benches with the dark green seat covers. The bar seemed to be frequented a lot, with most of the seats occupied, and the parking lot filled to the brim with cars and motorbikes. Strangely enough, while most of them were clearly separated, one bike stood in a lot between an expensive white car and the wall, rather than with the other bikes by the entrance to the bar.

"I like that bike." commented Vi as they passed it, gaze practically glued to it, "You don't see that kind of design often here in Piltover. Looks like a sport bike, if ya ask me. Just look how it's design is emphasizing speed and aerodynamics!"

"And is probably way faster than allowed." muttered the sheriff, but kept that to herself. She wasn't on duty, it was only a theory, and she'd rather not ruin the sister's evening. Besides, the bike actually was kind of a beauty with it's sleek design.

Jinx wasn't as reserved as Vi, and had moved up to the bike as Piltover's Finest spoke. She bowed down next to it and took in the few technical aspects visible without disassembling the bike. A finger sled over the rear wheel.

"Complex high-ratio gearing." she mused, licked her lips, words loud enough for Vi to hear and enjoy, "This baby here probably got one powerful engine and can handle it efficiently. At least, it has the capability to do so."

Jinx looked up, frowned at the design of the bike. "Not exactly my color, though. Reminds me too much of fire, and we all know how fire and I go along..." As if to prove that statement, Jinx rose her right arm.

Both Vi and Caitlyn didn't have to see that arm to know what Jinx was referring to, knew that Jinx's right arm was covered in burn scars. Scars she had received in her fight with Vi during that one fateful night in the abandoned chemical plant.

The ex-criminal rose from her crouched position with a sigh and rolled her shoulders as she turned to her sister and her friend.

"Well!" she continued, almost as if that last sentence hadn't been said, "Are we going in, or what? I don't intend to freeze my cute ass off out here. It's getting late!"

"Cute?" snorted the brawler, barely able to contain the snicker. But Jinx ignored that straight away and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at Caitlyn – and ducked the punch from Vi, who had seen that. The loose cannon sniggered to herself in her usual, insane way, and made a dash for the door, leaving Vi and Caitlyn to follow.

"Still the same old Jinx." commented Caitlyn with a smile, a smile that broke through Vi's scowl and let the enforcer roll her eyes at the truth of that statement. Caitlyn placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded for the door, and Vi agreed with a nod of her own.

The doorbell rung as Jinx slipped into the bar, followed by Vi pulling the door open on her own, though with a lot more strength. A few people looked up when the enforcer entered, greeting her with smirks and short waves, and even less noticed the sheriff that entered right after Vi. She saw a few familiar faces, including that of Ezreal, who sat with Luxanna 'Lux' Crownguard in one of the corners of the room. She smiled as she saw that, and though she greeted Ezreal with a wave, it didn't seem like he noticed her, and so, the sheriff looked back to her girlfriend, who had turned to look at her and Jinx, with the criminal staring into the darker corners of the room, where a lone woman, dressed in red, sat and smiled back at Jinx, almost as if the two knew each other.

The sheriff paid her no mind, though, knowing that the lady in red would eventually leave as the first rays of the morning sun would fall through the large window at the front of the shop.

"Gimme a sec to greet a few people. I haven't seen some of these guys in quite a while." spoke Vi, just loud enough to be audible over the soothing music that played inside the bar, "Why don't you go ahead and find a table for us, and order something? I'll be joining you in a moment."

"Sure, go ahead." replied Caitlyn, pondered for a moment herself if she should walk up to Ezreal and Lux to talk, but decided against it as she saw how much they were enjoying themselves. With all the rumors going around about those two, this might as well be a date, and even if it wasn't, with how rarely Ezreal ever was around with all his expeditions, she didn't want to interrupt anything.

"Crowded here, isn't it?" mused Jinx as she leaned closer to the sheriff, as to make sure that the sheriff would hear her over the music, without her having to speak too loud, "Most of the tables are occupied, and I'm sure we wouldn't want to interrupt these two lovebirds back there."

So Jinx had noticed them, too, and had come to the same conclusion. It was sometimes hard to believe how much common sense and empathy Jinx had on occasions – and often hard to remember that she used to have a degree in psychology, with how crazy and far from common sense she seemed most of the time.

But how had Jinx put it herself? It takes a madman to know one.

Caitlyn took a look around herself, only to find that Jinx was right. A lot of the tables were occupied by people that Caitlyn swore she had never seen before, and doubted that were all from Piltover. Hard to believe she had never heard of the bar before, with how frequented it seemed.

Her gaze came to a stop on the only table that wasn't as occupied as the rest. A single young woman sat on the bench, her raven black hair tugged behind her ears, a black bow on her head, as she was leaned forward and reading a book that lay on the table before her, next to a glass of a clear amber liquid – going great with the woman's amber eyes, as the sheriff noted – that Caitlyn was sure to be some kind of liquor. Or spirit, as the name of the bar indicated.

The sheriff and the loose cannon shared a glance, with the latter one shrugging. Caitlyn rolled her eyes at Jinx's passiveness, but set herself into motion, approaching the table with the raven-haired woman. While it meant that they would sit with a stranger and weren't all alone, at least they weren't with some creepy dudes. And the woman seemed quiet enough, with how the only movements she made were to turn the page or take a sip from her drink.

"Excuse me." began the sheriff as they reached the table, but had the decency to wait until the woman was turning the page, as to not interrupt her somewhere in the middle of a page, and waited until the blackhaired woman heaved a sigh and looked up at them with a questioning frown, "Would you mind if we sit down here? All the other tables are occupied."

Caitlyn watched as the amber eyes scanned the room shortly as to prove the sheriff's words. Finding that Caitlyn was right, the stranger eyed the two women in front of her a last time – and then, with a shrug, gestured them to sit down.

"I don't mind." she muttered as she went back to her book, not even watching anymore as Caitlyn and Jinx slipped into the chairs on either side of the table, "My friends aren't here at the moment, anyways. They're scattered somewhere through the bar."

"They ditched you?" inquired Jinx incredulously, frowning. The young woman with the bow rose her gaze to frown right back at Jinx, but then shook her head.

"They'll be back in a moment. Besides, I wouldn't call it 'ditching me', but more of 'taking care of needs'. One went to buy us some more drinks, one went to the restroom, and I have no clue where the last one went, but she said something about an urgent call."

Jinx continued to frown at her, but eventually regarded it with a nod, and turned to stop the waiter as he passed by.

"A tequila for me, and..." Jinx stopped to glance at Caitlyn, realizing only now that she didn't know what Caitlyn wanted. The sheriff smiled gently at her, then at the waiter.

"Just a bourbon."

The waiter nodded when the woman with the bow shook her head – not even looking up from her book – and left to get them their drinks. With him gone, Jinx turned back to the sheriff and smirked as she leaned onto the table.

"So, hat lady... Guess it's just us, eh?" snickered the madwoman as she rested her chin on her hands, "We don't get to spend time alone often, just the two of us."

Caitlyn rose an eyebrow, but looking back at the time since Jinx had given up her criminal life, had to agree. It was barely just the two of them. During the first week, Vi and Jinx had gone on patrol, as Caitlyn had yet to recover from the injuries she had received when the water tower had collapsed beneath her. And after that, Vi had been around most of the time that Caitlyn and Jinx interacted. That she only went over to their apartment mainly for Vi didn't help either.

"That is true." she admitted, casting a short glance into the direction of the third woman at the table to see if they were interrupting her reading, which didn't seem to be the case, "A shame. Really is."

"Meh, we get to spend time together sooner or later, anyways." chuckled Jinx and threw her hands into the air, letting herself fall back into her chair and lazily sinking down in it, hands now resting atop her head, "Ain't that right, sister-in-law?"

Caitlyn cringed a bit at Jinx's directness. She always did when Jinx called her that. And that despite the fact that she and Vi were still only dating, not planning to marry anytime soon, not even engaged. But Jinx was adamant on that one thing – she was assured that Caitlyn would be her sister-in-law eventually. That there was no way that the relationship between Vi and Caitlyn would make a turn for the worst. That there was no one else but Caitlyn for Vi.

"Right." agreed Caitlyn, though she failed at sounding confident in it, which Jinx completely ignored. The waiter was back with their drinks that moment, put the bourbon down in front of Caitlyn, and offered Jinx the tequila, which she took from him, immediately going for a rather large gulp. With a pleased sigh, Jinx placed her glass down on the table.

"You know, hat lady, looking back, I think this is what was missing from our game night at the station that one time." sniggered the loose cannon and scratched her own chin, "Alcohol and some relaxed music."

"I think a proper game was missing." shot Caitlyn back almost immediately, not too fond of the memories that resurfaced, the panic she had felt at the thought of sitting on actual contact mines, "Next time, bring chess, or something better than your very 'special' version of truth or dare."

"Perfect idea, hat lady! Next time, I use actual contact mines and we play chess!" the loose cannon burst into a mad fit of laughter, which only grew louder and more hysteric as she saw the look of disbelief on the sheriff's face, "Or, if you prefer it, Ludo!"

The sheriff knew that Jinx was mocking her, and though she felt a hint of annoyance, swallowed her anger, and instead grumbled into her bourbon as she rose the glass to her lips. By doing so, she noticed the weird look that the young woman with the bow was giving them over the edge of her book, barely noticeable for anyone but Caitlyn, who had a very trained eye.

Well, they probably really sounded a little crazy. After all, no normal person would find a way to use a contact mine in connection with chess. Or Ludo.

Embarrassed by the thought of the impression they must be making on the young woman, Caitlyn leaned her head back, and downed half her glass at once, only wanting to forget that which was already happening. Trust Jinx to turn the evening in a way she had not expected!

"Didn't think you'd know how to take it easy, hat lady, but after seeing you just downing half a glass of bourbon, I think you proved me wrong. Guess you know how to have a good time after all." commented the madwoman as Caitlyn put her glass down on the table – a little stronger than she had intended to, resulting in a loud knock as the glass hit the wood – and let out a huff.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Jay." huffed the sheriff of Piltover, shuddering as the aftertaste of the bourbon hit her, after all. There, she had used it, Jinx's real name. Had been a while since she'd done so. Despite knowing Jinx's real name, she had gotten so used to the criminal's nickname that she stuck to it most of the time. Vi didn't, nowadays. Was calling her Jay ever since she had temporarily left the police force.

"I know. But I'm eager to learn it all. To find things out about you." responded Jinx with a chuckle, and sat up properly, only to then suddenly lean a bit over the table, taking a rather long sip from her tequila, "Ya know, hat lady... If not for Vi, I would've probably made a move on you long ago. You're my type, and the evening we spend together at that police governor's party only served to assure me of it. I like you. Find you attractive. Your body. Your mind. Your qualities. Even your cute little mannerisms, like turning your head a bit to the side when you blush. And your accent really turns me on sometimes."

A shudder went through Caitlyn, especially as she heard Jinx's voice drop to a low, seductive hum. There was a hunger in Jinx's eyes that made the sheriff feel uncomfortable, but somehow appreciated. There was a warmth inside after the cold wave that passed through her.

"Uh... Thanks, I guess?" muttered Caitlyn, unable to keep the uncomfortable hint out of her voice, the quiver, "You're pretty... cute, too."

A lecherous grin spread over Jinx's lips, but the hunger in her eyes didn't die down, even as she slowly sunk back into her chair.

"I thought you deserved to know. Wouldn't be fair to keep this from you." Caitlyn shuddered again when she heard that the low growl was still in Jinx's voice, even as the loose cannon snickered, "Don't worry about it, though, I can keep my hands to myself. I find you attractive, but I think we both know I'm not someone for a long-term relationship. I don't do love."

"Not now." coughed the sheriff, trying to change the topic a bit, gently leading Jinx away from it, "You'll find your better half one day, Jay."

"_Cause I don't think that there's a worse side."_ shot through the sheriff's mind, though she didn't think of this thought as fair towards Jinx, _"At least, I hope there don't is anybody worse than this."_

Suddenly remembering that the two of them weren't alone at the table, Caitlyn slowly turned her head, afraid of what she might find. The first thing she saw were the amber eyes that were staring at her, then the delicate black eyebrow that had been risen at her. And then, the confused but knowing smile on the black-haired girl's lips.

"_God, she must think we're crazy or something."_ thought the sheriff in shame and embarrassment and lowered her face into her hands – Why again had she agreed on going with Vi and Jinx? She should've known that they'd end up making her feel uncomfortable in some way!

"Meh, I don't believe in that stuff. If I were, I'd be hanging out with Karma more." chuckled Jinx, ignoring the third woman at the table, "Come to think of it, I don't believe in karma, either. The woman, yes, the thing, no. But don't get it mixed up, for I don't believe Karma. As in, the woman. I believe in Karma, but not in karma, and yet I don't believe Karma if she says a thing."

Caitlyn kicked the loose cannon beneath the table. And was ignored for the most part, aside from Jinx showing her her trademark grin, the lecherous side to it gone now.

"Ya know, hat lady, the night has just begun, but I think I can already tell you what's gonna happen tonight!" exclaimed the loose cannon triumphantly, throwing her hands into the air and almost spilling her tequila, before lowering them and downing the rest of the clear liquid, "Vi will get herself drunk during a drinking contest with a stranger that she'll fight afterward. You'll be bored eventually, but forced to rescue Vi's ass from being charged by the authorities she actually belongs to. I'll be my usual self. And then, we'll all wake up tomorrow with terrible headaches. And there'll be Claptrap dubstep at some random point during the night."

The sheriff rose an eyebrow at the weird prognosis of the loose cannon – and rose it even higher as she, much to her own disturbance, could see the images vividly before her eyes, expecting the night to turn pretty much exactly out like that. Aside for whatever 'Claptrap Dubstep' was.

Pushing the images aside, Caitlyn looked down at her glass of bourbon. She hesitated for a moment, but then picked the glass up and downed the rest of it as well. She knew she'd need it. There was no way she'd be able to stand the night sober. Jinx smirked as she saw that, knowing Caitlyn's thoughts, then moved her gaze to the other woman at the table, who had gone back to reading her book, getting lost in it. Jinx spotted the title, frowned.

"Ya know, hat lady, I think I might stop at a bookstore tomorrow. It's been a while since I last read anything good." muttered Jinx, apparently getting lost in her own thoughts, one hand playing with her weird radio-like device, which she had placed on the table in front of her at one point, "Since Christmas, actually. That book Vi got me was really good."

"You do like fantasy novels, right?" inquired the sheriff, thankful for the change of topic, but also eager to learn more about the maniac herself, "The book Vi got you was of the fantasy genre, if I'm informed right."

"Yeah, I like fantasy novels. Fantasy novels, and these complex science books people usually avoid to read." replied Jinx and smirked, shrugged, "Complex mechanics, quantum physics, all those books on velocity and stuff, I kinda absorb them. But then again, I also like blueprints, reports, death lists, joke collections, paradoxes, the lonely hearts column, and the general business terms that everyone tends to not read and simply skip for some reason."

Caitlyn rose an eyebrow at the loose cannon. Feeling playful, she let a smile spread across her lips and gently pushed her glass aside to rest her elbows on the table.

"If you like to read reports so much, I bet Vi wouldn't mind you taking some work of her shoulders." chuckled the sheriff, "I wouldn't mind some less work, either."

"Oh, I wouldn't mind 'taking some work off your shoulders', if you know what I mean." snickered the loose cannon in return and wriggled her eyebrows suggestively, her smirk fueled by the following groan from Caitlyn, who lowered her head in irritation, "Though I probably shouldn't do that with my own sister. If you're really into that, though, hat lady, I guess I could..."

"Don't even try, Jay." growled Caitlyn into her hands, painfully aware of the frown that was once more directed at them over the brim of a book, "Vi is more than a bit of a handful."

"One can clearly see that." continued the loose cannon in the same suggestive tone, earning a frown from Caitlyn as the sheriff tried to understand, and then a disapproving glare as she did once Jinx wriggled her hands in a very particular motion, "Still, the offer is up. If you're into it, I wouldn't mind a thr..."

"Finish that sentence and I make you finish Vi's load of paperwork as well."

"You know, hat lady, I could make an innuendo out of that as well, but for the sake of it, I let that one slip."

"Make that innuendo and I slip some more hours of overtime onto your schedule." countered Caitlyn quickly, actually finding herself enjoying the banter with Jinx, the clash of wits, and yet prepared for the final, mocking blow, "You can make as many innuendos as you want, Jay, but I'm your boss and your superior, and I can always get back at you in the most creative ways."

The loose cannon blew her a raspberry at that and pouted, knowing that Caitlyn was right. She could pull as many pranks and innuendos on Caitlyn to irritate her as she wanted – in the end, she did work for Caitlyn and did kind of live with her (with how much Caitlyn was over at their apartment, she might as well be living with them), and Caitlyn was a smart woman with many capabilities at hand.

"Okay, fine! But when did this turn into a 'game of mocking Jay', anyways?!" complained the madwoman with a pout, crossing her arms in front of her chest like a little kid that was irritated at not getting what it wanted. She obviously didn't enjoy the joke at her expense.

Caitlyn was just about to giggle in triumph and go back to her – as she only noticed then, empty – glass, when Jinx suddenly perked up in realization of something. Caitlyn watched as Jinx began to stare straight ahead, straight through her, and somewhat creeped out by that, gestured the passing waiter to bring them two more drinks

"Hey... 'Mocking Jay' kinda sounds awesome, doesn't it? Kind of like the title for a book or a movie, while we're at it." muttered the loose cannon, though mostly to herself, if the empty gaze was any indication.

"Isn't a 'Mockingjay' a bird, anyways?" murmured the third woman at the table, reminding Caitlyn of her presence, and making her painfully aware of the fact that the woman had probably, most likely unintended, listened to their conversation.

"I should become an author! I would make millions with brilliant titles like that!" exclaimed Jinx, still lost in her own little world, though she seemed to snap out of it eventually as the waiter placed new glasses in front of them and took their old ones with him, "Whadda'ya think, hat lady?"

The sheriff chose to ignore Jinx newest weird idea and, after heaving a heavy sigh, rose her new glass of bourbon to her lips to take a long sip, leaving Jinx to her little delusion. She knew that, if the evening continued to go the way it had, heading into the same direction, she would eventually need something stronger than bourbon.

"What about 'Game of Legends: Mocking Jay'? That's one amazing title for a book, right there!" declared Jinx in amusement, but rose her own glass. In silent amazement, Caitlyn watched as Jinx emptied the glass in one go without even doing as much as flinching. The loose cannon slammed the glass down on the table and let out a satisfied sigh, shaking her head once as the full effect of the booze kicked in.

And rose to her feet.

"I think I'll take a short toilet break." announced Jinx, trailing off to yawn, "Ya know, avail myself of the facilities. Powder my nose. Head for the restrooms. To take a biobreak. To go to the loo. To go take a piss."

"I understood it the first time, thanks a lot for the insight into the extent of your vocabulary." groaned the sheriff, though kind of thankful for the chance she was offered to recover from what she had just experienced and learned.

The loose cannon smiled at her for a second, but then picked up her strange invention, turned and left the table, leaving Caitlyn to slump her shoulders and relax, after all. She hadn't even realized that her whole body had tensed in light of what she was experiencing.

Despite having changed sides, Jinx still knew how to get under her skin.

Slowly lifting her gaze, Caityln took a sip from her bourbon. She was alone at the table now, alone with the reading girl. The young woman seemed surprisingly calm and collected, despite what she had just been exposed to, something that made Caitlyn blush in embarrassment.

"Sorry you had to experience that." sighed the sheriff after a moment of silence, though she continued to stare at the table in front of her, rather than turning to the young woman. The black-haired girl didn't look up from her book either, though, and calmly continued to read.

"Don't worry, I'm used to worse. Something like this doesn't even shock me anymore." replied the stoic woman, sending a short glance at the sheriff as she turned the page, "Not that I had the intention of listening to you."

Caitlyn offered her a weak smile, and though the younger woman saw it, she merely went back to her book.

"I hope we didn't bother you too much or interrupt your reading."

The black-haired woman looked up again, shrugged, "Like I said, I'm used to worse. I've learned to read through almost anything now. Two of your roommates playing with their dog inside? I've learned to read through it. Your other roommate complaining about something and throwing a tantrum? I've learned to read through it."

"You have three roommates?" inquired Caitlyn, actually finding herself kind of surprised.

"And their dog, yeah. Kind of chaotic most of the time, but I've come to actually enjoy all the commotion. I guess I would miss them and their antics if they weren't there anymore." replied the younger woman, before suddenly extending a hand past her book, "I'm Blake."

"Caitlyn." offered the sheriff in return, remembering her own title at that moment and thinking it was only fair that the young woman knew, "I'm the sheriff of Piltover."

An eyebrow was raised in curiosity at her.

"Strange sheriff you are, going to a bar and being all friendly with a reformed criminal."

"You know?" muttered Caitlyn in surprise. Blake obviously wasn't from Piltover, and yet she seemed to know Jinx for who she was before joining the police force. The sheriff made a silent note to observe this Blake's reaction toward Vi, who was a reformed criminal as well.

"Hard not to know if she's such a hot topic in the city. We've been here for only a few days, and yet there isn't a thing I've heard more about than the criminal that went by the name of Jinx. Though I kinda only recognized her for her blue hair. Never saw her before." Blake suddenly seemed to hesitate, her gaze wandering down to the book she had placed on the table before her, "Also, let's say I know someone who is a reformed criminal as well. And once you know one for sure, you can kinda feel if you're with a reformed criminal that's serious about changing her life."

The sheriff rose an eyebrow at that, but decided against further inquiring on that. Whatever Blake was talking about, it seemed to be personal, and Caitlyn had made it a rule never to dig into someone's past unless they wanted you to.

Besides, she knew that look on Blake's face. A look she knew from Vi. From Jinx. From herself whenever she stared into the mirror after a nightmare.

Blake had experienced a _bad day _once.

Caitlyn's gaze came to a stop on the open book in front of Blake.

"May I ask what you're reading? As you probably heard, Jay and I are quite into reading as well." inquired the sheriff, half in an attempt to change the topic, half in attempt to learn more about her new acquaintance, "Though I can't say the same about her sister... My girlfriend. I'm not saying that she doesn't read at all, or that she doesn't enjoy it. She just reads rather... rarely."

This brought a smile to Blake's lips. A knowing, sympathizing smile. For a second, Caitlyn could've sworn she saw the black bow on Blake's head twitch.

"I know what you're talking about. My girlfriend isn't much of the reading type, either, though I occasionally find her sitting around with a book in her hands." chuckled the younger woman, leaning back in her seat, "She's more of the 'Punch, and ask questions while punching' type."

With a frown, Caitlyn came to realize that Blake's girlfriend reminded her a lot of Vi, by description alone. She chose not to say a thing, though, and continued to listen as Blake spoke, tapping her book with a finger.

"It's actually one of my older books. I kinda forgot the one I'm actually reading as of now in our hotel room, with all the commotion this morning." began Blake, and looked up to meet Caitlyn's gaze, "This book here is about a man with two souls, each fighting for dominance."

"And the other one?" inquired Caitlyn further, thinking of books as an interesting topic. Obviously, the younger woman shared her love for reading, and it had been a while since she had a decent conversation with someone that actually enjoyed books as much as she did. Blake smiled, obviously thinking the same.

"The one I'm actually reading is about two girls that lost their parents at a young age in a fire, two orphans that have nothing in the world but themselves, and their attempt to find their place in the world for them. They find it in the strangest of all places." explained Blake – and her smile grew as she saw the sparkle in Caitlyn's eyes.

"I think I've heard about that book, though I didn't get to read it myself yet. A shame, I heard it's rather popular." Caitlyn took a sip from her bourbon, silently wondering what was keeping Jinx so long, though not minding the loose cannon's absence. Her mind drifted to the book that lay on Vi's bed, neatly placed on the pillow and waiting for her return that evening.

"Reminds me of the book that I'm reading at the moment. It's about a maniac that tries to find back into life after long years of a life as a criminal after she has run into her sister, who extends a hand to her in an attempt to help her out of the darkness." replied the sheriff with a smile, resting her chin on her hands, elbows resting on the table.

"I'm surprised." began Blake anew, rose an eyebrow, "The book about the maniac and the book about the two girls struggling to find their place in the world is from the same author."

Caitlyn rose her own eyebrow, surprised as well. What a small world it was. And what a coincidence. An ironic coincidence, but definitely one.

Blake, putting a bookmark into her book, closed it, then picked it up and slipped it into the bag that lay aside her on the bench. Caitlyn watched this with genuine curiosity, not failing to notice the black metallic object in the bag. A weapon of some sort? Her own rifle, formerly strapped across her back and now resting against the chair, became obvious to her all of sudden.

"So you're friends with the reformed criminal. That's actually really admirable, giving her a second chance." spoke the younger woman, and Caitlyn swore she heard something in her voice akin to affection, "Forgive my curiosity, though, but who was the other woman you came in with?"

"That would be Vi, my girlfriend. I guess this means that you saw us?"

"It was hard not to notice the three of you, actually." replied Blake with the hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her lips, "A tall woman with bright pink hair and a set of gigantic gauntlets on her back, a woman with a rifle that seemed to contrast with her companions, and a reformed criminal with bright blue hair."

"I see what you mean." admitted Caitlyn, a chuckle escaping her, "Though Jinx prefers the term 'electric-blue' when it comes to her hair."

"Just like Yang insists her hair is golden and not blonde, then." commented Blake, finally allowing her amusement to find it's way onto her face.

"I'm actually surprised that you called Vi's weapons gauntlets." added Caitlyn, continuing to express her interest, "Most people actually call them 'gloves', not knowing the difference and being able to tell them apart."

"A gauntlet is a type of glove with an extended cuff to cover part of the forearm." she recalled, sounding like she had learned that right out of an encyclopedia, "I knew that before, but learned that the hard way, as my girlfriend prefers this kind of weapon, too."

"Our girlfriends seem to have a bit in common, then. Vi is the 'punch first, ask questions while punching'-type, too. Bit of a brute, headstrong, tends to rush into a fight without thinking, tends to curse and look actively for fights in which she uses her gauntlets, enjoys challenges and yet can be tender and thoughtful. Not with her sister, though. Now please don't tell me your girlfriend is into mechanics, too, or I might think we're actually dating the same woman."

"That sounds like Yang a lot, but no, Yang isn't into mechanics, save for her weapons and her bike." mused Blake, tilting her head a little – Caitlyn swore she saw the bow twitch again – and gaining a thoughtful look, "Also, Yang and her sister Ruby couldn't be any closer. And she doesn't curse, but makes puns all of the time, which is actually just irritating."

The two women shared a glance, surprised and somewhat amused by the strange sense of irony and humor that fate had with them. Was it really mere coincidence that they met, or was there some higher force pulling the strings?

"I think I can relate then. I bet our girlfriends would go along just fine." offered Caitlyn after that moment of somewhat comfortable silence, and offered with a playful tone, "So, do I have to assume that it's normal for the 'caring brute-type' to end up with the 'smart and calm reading-type' then?"

Blake cracked a smug smile and shrugged playfully. Amber eyes sparked in amusement as the young woman found sympathy in the sheriff in the strangest of places, a city she had never been to before in a bar that she hadn't even wanted to go to. Unbeknownst to both, they shared a thought, and it was the thought that the evening was turning out better than they had expected it to, after all.

"So, your friends sure are taking their sweet time. Surely a visit to the restroom, a simple call or a journey to get some drinks can't take that long." commented the sheriff, to which the younger woman shrugged.

"Same goes for your reformed criminal. She's been taking her sweet time, too." countered Blake, sending a glance into the direction of the restrooms, "Say, where did your girlfriend vanish off to, anyways?"

"Vi? Oh, she went to greet some friends she hadn't seen in a while by the..."

Caitlyn was interrupted as two cries drowned out every other sound in the bar.

"Screw this shit! We may not know who won this drinking contest, but if it's a fight you want, you'll get it! Bring it, blondie!"

"With pleasure, pinkie pie! Guess it's time to blow a raspberry – through the wall with a punch!"

Both Caitlyn and Blake shot out of their seats in horror as they each recognized one of the voices.

* * *

It took her a bit more strength that one would expect, but Jinx entered the restrooms on her first attempt – and immediately glared up at the rusty mechanism placed at the top of the doorframe, meant to ensure that the door would not stay open if no one was going through, pulling it close behind her. That would have to be fixed, not every female was as strong as she was. For the moment, everyone would be able to open it, but if it continued to rust, the door might as well be locked.

Turning to face the room, Jinx took in a few details of the relatively simple restroom – the four sinks with the large mirror above them, the seven stalls, the white tiles – and frowned. She wasn't sure what she had expected, but she definitely wasn't disappointed. It looked decent enough, nothing out of the ordinary, and despite the rusty mechanism on top of the door, actually very clean. Squeaky clean almost, which she was very thankful for. She had been in restrooms in other bars that weren't as clean, and god, only because she had lived in an abandoned building that she had redesigned to become her hideout, it didn't mean she didn't have standards.

This restroom met them to the fullest, filling her with satisfaction and relief, the rusty mechanism above the door, which had irritated her, already forgotten.

The maniac smiled to herself in content as she turned to the next empty stall, the second in the row, as the first was already occupied. Not wanting to waste any time, as it would mean to waste the chance to spend some time with the sheriff alone, Jinx had no intention of staying in the restrooms for too long.

But when did things ever go the way one wanted them to?

After relieving herself, the loose cannon left the stall, still buckling her short pants to the sound of the running toilet. Cause one should never forget to buckle their pants. Buckling pants was important. She could sing an entire song about it, though she wasn't quite sure where she had learned it. All she did remember was that it had to do with some kind of ship named S.S. Friendship. And a theater.

Oh, the puns.

Happily humming to herself after making sure that her pants were buckled, Jinx approached the sinks – ignoring the young woman that already stood there, washing her hands - staring at her slowly growing reflection in the mirror, which grinned back at her. Looked good wearing the customized uniform, which she wore most of the time nowadays. She didn't even really bother to change out of it anymore. Being only a recruit, she had to go on patrol ever so often, meaning she did have to wear the uniform anyways, other than Caitlyn and Vi, who stuck with their own styles when not on patrol. She'd do that too, would she not be forced to go on patrol every day.

Cold water ran over her hands in a stream as she turned it on, washing off the soap that was coating her hands in a thin layer of lather. She watched with mild interest as the soap disappeared into the drain, lost in her own little world as she realized that there was one thing she hadn't even bothered about.

What was her style now? For years, she had stuck with her own variation of the fashion from Zaun, the skimpy and mostly asymmetrical clothing that barely left anything to the imagination. The criminal Jinx was easy to identify with that kind of clothing, something that had always amused her in a certain way. For her, that had been her casual clothing, comfortable, never getting in the way of her, to some extent, stunts and acrobatics. Never getting caught up in anything as she climbed over fences, rolled over the ground or crawled through tight spaces. Of course, it had never offered any great protection, but that was the small price she had always been willing to pay. She never really bothered about protection, anyways, with how much of a pain threshold she had. And besides, if something was meant to kill her, what would stop it? And was she to prevent it from doing that? She had, until the latest bad day, never really cared about life and death.

But that was different now.

Now, if she were to return to that style, what would that mean for her? And for others? Not many people had taken the news well that the one that had destroyed Piltover for years was now part of the police force, attempting to redeem herself. They had decided against making up some ruse about the newest recruit looking like Jinx by coincidence – there was no one that would believe that, not with how easily Jinx was recognizable. No one had really cared that much when it was Vi, she hadn't caused damage on such a large scale, but Jinx – Jinx had destroyed entire parts of the city. Had killed, deceived and caused havoc and destruction.

If she were to wear her old clothes now, would people think she had gone back to that? Would it mean that she would go back to that? Accepting who she was? Was she even serious about this all, about redeeming herself? With the voices in her head, she never was too sure about it. Some of them told her she was, others told her she was just trying something new so that her game wouldn't become boring.

But was life but a game to her anymore?

She splashed cold water in her face, hoping it would calm her a bit. Didn't help her at all. Why again did people do that in the movies?

The loose cannon rose her gaze and stared into the mirror, barely even registering that the young woman to her left had left the sinks and was heading for the door. The maniac stared into the pink eyes of her reflection, and her reflection stared right back, though neither of them was finding what they hoped they would find in the eyes of the other one. No answers to the questions. Jinx knew she would have to give these answers to herself, as no one else could give her them.

The thing was – she needed only one answer. All these questions, the questions about morality, seriousness and intentions, about past, present and future – they could be answered by answering one single question.

Who was she? Was she Jinx, the maniacal criminal that was never too serious about anything and enjoyed playing with Fat Hands, or was she Jay, the girl from Zaun that had almost met her end over ten years ago and that was now living with her sister?

Sometimes, these two perceptions of herself, the two contrasting images of the same person, seemed to overlap a bit. At times, they were the same image. Other times, they were clear contrasts.

The question couldn't be answered until her perception of herself would come to a stop. One clear result.

The gaze of the Jinx in the mirror averted from the eyes of it's original, turning to look to her left – as Jinx's eyes had shifted a bit as well, staring into the mirror to the left of her reflection. The young woman that had previously occupied the sink to her left was now standing by the door, ready to open it, back turned to Jinx.

And thus, Jinx spotted it. The mechanical, box-shaped object at the lower back of the younger female, colored red and black like the dress of it's owner. Or generally the colors she wore, seeing as her boots were of the same color. As was her hair.

The one thing that caught Jinx's attention, though, was the small barrel that protruded from the side of the 'box'.

"Is that a... Is that a gun?" she exclaimed in surprise, slowly turning her head to face the woman by the door. The young woman – no, more of a girl actually – slowly turned around and looked back at her, raising an eyebrow at her in confusion. Jinx stared back with the same expression. The door, which the girl had attempted to open, fell close again.

"Uh, do you mean this?" muttered the younger female, obviously not too comfortable with the fact that attention was on her, but pulled the box from her back – with noticeably no problem, as Jinx noted, despite the obvious weight of the 'box' – and held it towards Jinx to present it to her.

In no more than a moment, Jinx had crossed the distance to get a closer look at the object she believed to be a gun. On closer inspection, the thing she had spotted was definitely a barrel, barely noticeable with it's black color against the rest of the black surface that it protruded from. That box-thing really was a gun.

"This is a gun, isn't it?" inquired the maniac, taking note of the mechanics, a hinge, at one end of the weapon, though frowning at them. Why would there be some need for a mechanical hinge in that thing? Could it be opened and some magazine inserted?

Jinx felt the other side of her slowly wake as she crouched in front of the weapon to get a better look at it, the side that was obsessed with mechanics. And weapons. This thing had both.

"I'm Ruby. And yeah, yeah it is." replied the girl, slowly gaining a smile as she noticed Jinx's interest in the object, "It's a customizable high impact sniper rifle."

"A sniper rifle? How is this a sniper rifle?" muttered Jinx with a frown, rising to her full height, noticing that Ruby was about her size, "I mean, with that shape? No reticle of any kind? Not even a scope? Plus, the recoil of this thing has to be..."

Ruby pulled the weapon back and changed the way that she held it – and, with a sound that sounded a lot like hydraulics to Jinx, extended. With silent amazement, Jinx watched the now extended shape of the box. While it barely looked any different, Jinx could now clearly tell it was a gun, having revealed the barrel more clearly.

The amazement must have been obvious, as the girl smiled and seemed to enjoy this moment – before she swung the box back over her shoulder, twirling it once. And as she did, the sounds that reminded Jinx of hydraulics became louder again, this time as the whole weapon unfolded. First once, then twice, then again, and that only in the matter of mere seconds.

With a heavy thud, Ruby let the tip of her weapon hit the ground, barely noticing that the tiles cracked under the impact. But the restroom was long forgotten for either of the females – one enjoying to show off her weapon, the other amazed at what she was experiencing.

The box had unfolded into a huge mechanical beast of a scythe, the entire length of the barrel now the hilt for the scythe, protruding from it's tip.

"It's also a scythe." chuckled Ruby in amusement, "A High-Caliber Sniper Scythe, short HCSS."

Within the blink of an eye, Jinx was all over it. Found the magazine. Ran a finger along the length of the blade, wincing as it cut into her skin. Staring into the barrel in wonder if she could even see the bullet at the end. Gently touched the small, hook-like, double-pronged, jagged blade at the bottom of the shaft .

"This is amazing! This is blissful madness!" shrieked the maniac in glee, no short of a climax of emotions, "This got to be the most beautiful weapon I've ever seen! How does this work? The unfolding mechanism? The seamless transmission between it's compact shape, it's gun mode and the scythe? Did you create this beauty? This grace of the beautiful death in material shape? This...!"

"This is my sweetheart, my self-designed weapon, Crescent Rose."

Jinx froze up, stared at the girl with the red tips in her brunette hair, who was proudly smiling at her. Slowly, Jinx gained the look of absolute bliss on her face.

It had a name. This beauty of a weapon had a name. Someone wasn't ignorant to weapons. Someone understood their feelings. That they needed names, too. That they were more willing to work with you if you had a bond to them.

Within the next moment, the unfolded shape of a mini-gun, a shock gun, a shark-shaped rocket launcher, and a tonfa lay between the two females.

"Ruby, meet Pow-Pow, Zap, Fishbones and Saltsticks!"

The sparkle of excitement in the girl's eyes didn't go unnoticed.

* * *

With a heavy sigh and a short chuckle, a slightly intoxicated Vi sunk into a barstool and rolled her neck. The barkeeper gave a short glance into her direction and gestured her that he'd be with her in a moment, before turning back to the drinking contest that took place on two stools further down the row, a blonde woman outdrinking a tall and bulky man. Vi watched this for a moment, amazed as she slammed her fifteenth shot down on the bar, with the man struggling to down the ninth, looking pathetically in the way that he was fighting the tears.

Vi chuckled. Someone had bragged a bit too much on how much he could drink. With the way that the other woman wasn't even slightly intoxicated after her fifteenth shot of twenty, there wouldn't be much left of his pride.

The barkeeper eventually sauntered over to the enforcer when the man, after downing his tenth shot, struggled to pick up the eleventh. The blonde aside him picked up her eighteenth, leaving only two after that for her, and nine for the man.

"Some Bacardi, Sly." began Vi, grinning at the barkeeper that had been dubbed 'Sly', simply for his mischievous attitude and rather sly appearance. He was not a man to be trusted, Vi knew that much, knew he was a casanova with a manipulative personality, always exploiting something when he saw the chance to do so, and always intent to tell you the latest rumor he had heard. How many of those had any truth behind them, Vi didn't know, but at least it was never boring with the man.

Sly worked fast, appearing with her drink before the blonde woman downed her twentieth shot and slammed it down on the bar. Beside her, the man collapsed, holding his fourteenth, hopelessly intoxicated and ready to throw up and pass out. A few of his buddies emerged from the crowd of bystanders, picking him up. One of them fished the drunken guy's wallet out of his jacket and paid for all the shots, including those of the blonde, before he helped carrying the bulky male out of the bar.

With a smug grin, the blonde turned back to the bar after watching her opponent being carried of, scanning it for the barkeeper. With the show being over, Vi chuckled to herself, amused that there'd never be a boring evening at the bar, and turned to her glass, raising it to her lips, the strong smell of alcohol invading her nostrils as she took the first sip.

"So, who's next?" she heard the blonde ask, followed by the shuffling of the crowd around her, most of them quickly turning away from the buxom blonde bombshell that had just beaten a guy in a drinking contest.

Vi didn't care about it anymore. Calmed her mind as she took another sip, but let her gaze travel through the crowd in search of someone familiar that she hadn't met yet that evening. Not finding anyone she wanted to catch up with, the pinkette shrugged, downed one half of her drink, and slammed the glass down on the bar.

Warmth spread through her relatively quickly, the booze bringing new life to her tired body. Once again, she found herself questioning why paperwork was wearing her out so much while fighting didn't, but knew she would find no answer. Also, she knew that she'd probably should be looking for Caitlyn and Jinx – after all, she hadn't invited the sheriff only to leave her by herself – or worse, with Jinx – all evening. She didn't need a babysitter for her older sister.

Deciding on finishing the glass and then setting out to find her girlfriend and her sister, the enforcer raised the glass to her lips again and smirked.

"What about you, hm? You look like you might be a challenge. Feeling brave enough to try your luck?"

Vi frowned as she heard the voice from right aside her. Turning her head a bit to frown at the one that had addressed her, Vi found that the blonde woman had moved to the empty stool next to her, which had formerly been in between them. Up close, Vi could see that the woman was still pretty young, maybe in her early twenties at most. She didn't look too young to drink, but Vi doubted that she had done so for long, or that she'd do it often.

Still, the blonde didn't look intoxicated at all.

"You're challenging me to a drinking contest?" inquired the enforcer and rose an eyebrow at the blonde, giving her a once-over, then let a smug grin slip onto her lips, "Come back when you're old enough to challenge me, girl. Ya know, like, when you're out of high school."

The blonde didn't seem to like to hear that, perking up an eyebrow at the enforcer that was mocking her. This gave Vi another chance to get a better look at her, noticing the lavender eyes and the golden bracelets.

"I'm old enough. Besides, what do you care? Who are you, the sheriff?" mocked the younger woman – only to earn a laugh from most of the people that heard her, leaving her to frown.

"That would be Vi, missy." snorted Sly when he sauntered up to them, "And no, she's not the sheriff. Though you're brave to challenge her. Only means you're kinda lunatic."

"Don't see why, if she's not the sheriff. Besides, I'm old enough to drink! I can hold my liquor. I can challenge who I want. And besides, it's the weekend, and I like to start my weekends with a bang." repeated the blonde, before suddenly smirking smugly to herself, "I always start my weekends with a _Yang_."

"Guess your name's Yang then." huffed Vi, though internally cringing at the horrible pun, "And what Sly was trying to tell you is – No, I'm not the sheriff. I'm the sheriff's partner, blondie. I'm Piltover's enforcer."

Realization dawned on Yang's face after a short expression of shock, leaving Vi to snort in laughter, before picking up her Bacardi and downing the remains of it. There was a sheriff waiting for her, she didn't have time for this. Caitlyn wouldn't like being invited and then left alone, and since Vi doubted that Caitlyn would be willing to amuse Jinx, the loose cannon would eventually grow bored and start causing problems to make it interesting. And they really didn't want that.

Slamming her empty glass down on the bar and paying for her drink, Vi rose from her seat and turned away from the bar in seek of her girlfriend and her crazy sister.

"Excuse me then, _raspberry_."

Vi cringed and froze up, accompanied by Sly's mocking "Ooooh, now you've done it, missy. You did not just make a comment about Vi's hair."

The enforcer slowly turned around and glared at the blonde, which was smugly smirking at her. One hand went for her pink hair, obviously the reason that the blonde had just called her 'raspberry' – the other hand was determined to reach for the gauntlets, despite knowing better.

"Nice gauntlets on your back, by the way." offered the blonde, partially out of honest amazement, more intent on following up with the next jab, though, "Bet they're that size to compensate for something."

One of Vi's eyelids began to twitch.

"How do you carry those things? They're not real, right? What are they made of? Cardboard?" continued Yang, leaning smugly onto the bar, "I mean, with that size, they'd have to weigh..."

With a thud that made the entire bar shake, nearly sending Vi's empty glass over the edge, the 'cardboard' gauntlets hit the ground with all their weight that reached a whopping total of 8,140 lbs with Vi's own weight, and the words remained stuck in the blonde's throat. Obviously, she had just come to realize that the warnings had been real.

The enforcer dropped back into the seat next to Yang and placed her arms on the bar, leaning closer to Sly.

"Okay, fine, let's play your game, blondie." huffed the brawler, "But by my rules. Twenty shots are nothing, just a drop in the ocean. Sly, the usual rules. We drink until one of us passes out or gives up."

The mischievous barkeeper bowed mockingly to the enforcer and vanished to prepare things. The enforcer's change of mind had already attracted a small crowd, and by the time that Sly returned with an armful of bottles and a tray with two big pyramids of small glasses, the blonde seemed to have realized that she had indeed just picked a worthy challenger.

Both Vi and Yang watched silently as Sly put the tray down in between them and gave them an equal amount of the small glasses. By then, Vi had already forgotten that she had intended to find Caitlyn and Jinx, and Yang had regained her composure. And her sense of humor.

"Nice to see that you changed your mind, pinkie-pie." snickered the blonde, watching as the barkeeper filled their glasses, "It wouldn't be a great evening unless I get a real challenge."

"Likewise."

"Alright, girls." began the barkeeper, interrupting any further exchanges between the two competitors, "Let's see who the real badass is here. Remember, play fair, no interrupting each other, and every glass has to be completely empty and turned over on the bar for it to count."

Yang and Vi exchanged a short glance of determination, Yang eager for the challenge, and Vi eager to put the blonde in her place. They both grabbed a glass, rose it.

The challenge had begun.

* * *

"Fishbones is the worst weapon ever, he's always so reasonable and against my fun!" Jinx curled her fingers, staring down at her rocket launcher, which rested against the wall outside the bar, "But the worst thing is, he knows that, even though I threaten him that I can just replace him, I won't do it, because he's actually useful as a weapon! Why can't he be more like Zap, he's always energetic about things! Or Pow-Pow, he knows how to have fun and be loud at the same time!"

Ruby chuckled to herself, hands resting against the knee-high windowsill of the large window at the front of the building, which she sat on, and patted Crescent Rose affectionately, the scythe lying on the windowsill next to her.

"Crescent Rose isn't like that at all. She's my sweetheart, and she has never betrayed me!" giggled the girl, "And you've seen how she helps me."

Jinx's irritation vanished as she turned to the other weapon fanatic, grinning smugly. Oh yeah, she had seen that alright. Not only had Crescent Rose that sweet transformation ability, but it also had enormous recoil, recoil that Ruby used in a way that Jinx had never seen like that before.

When Jinx had built her weapons, she had quickly learned that she had completely forgotten about the possible recoil. Zap didn't have any noticeable recoil, so that wasn't the problem, and Pow-Pow's recoil wasn't that much of a problem for her to handle, even now, it was using only a little bit of countermeasure when it came to the recoil.

What truly had shown Jinx that recoil wasn't anything to be forgotten about or to be ignored was the first shot she had ever fired with Fishbones. Her arm had already hurt a little from Pow-Pow's first ever test run, the continuous recoil having shaken up her arm quite a bit, but what she had felt after shooting Fishbones' first ever rocket was an entirely different thing.

It had filled her with pain, and, due to her masochistic side, also bliss.

The first ever rocket of the mechanical shark, back then with fins at the side near the muzzle, having not used anything to counteract the recoil, had not only jerked Jinx's shoulder back in the most violent manner, but had also dislocated her entire arm and shoulder, and had sent the rocket launcher flying backwards over her shoulder, during which it's fins had cut into her shoulder and arm, and she had been briefly burnt by it's hot muzzle.

Being unable to work on anything that required her right hand after that, since her right arm had to heal for quite a bit even after she had set her own arm, Jinx had picked up the drawing board again and had, with only her left hand, redesigned Fishbones according to the failed test run, adding additional jaws that opened up further right before she shot, and removing the fins at the side of the rocket launcher, leading to it's final design.

So seeing Ruby actually use the recoil to catapult herself through the air, speeding herself up or slowing herself down, throwing herself high up in the air or back to the ground, was the strangest and yet most beautiful sight that the weapons fanatic with the electric-blue hair had ever seen.

It was something Jinx had not thought of. Ruby did many things that Jinx hadn't thought of, including the, in the eyes of the maniac sheer amazing, transformation ability of her weapon. Sure, the weight stayed the same, but it was much easier to carry around a box rather than a scythe the size of your body. Jinx herself had only used it to a certain extent when she had made Pow-Pow so that it could contract a bit and not get in the way of her legs.

"Well, Fishbones helps me too, occasionally. You should've seen this one time when I used him as a bat instead of a rocket launcher! Oh, old scarface – Katarina, I think is her name – didn't see him coming. But the noise was the most satisfying thing I've ever heard! Ka-dong!" Jinx swung an imaginary Fishbones at the height of her own head, then tensed up and acted like it had hit her in the face, "And scarface went limp, and the noise echoed all through Fishbones!"

"That sounds incredibly dangerous." mused Ruby, the shudder that went through her not going past Jinx – as did the excited tensing of Ruby's muscles, "And super awesome! It kind of reminds me of that one time when I beat up these guys who tried to rob me! You should've seen that! I was all like, Hooowaaah! Witchaaaa!"

Jinx giggled in amusement as she watched how Ruby proceeded to make some karate-like movements and noises, though they didn't look a lot like karate, or at least not what little Jinx knew about it.

She had tried it once. Was too coordinated for her. Random, erratic movements were more her thing. Her fighting style followed no set movements. She followed no set rules.

Rules were made to be broken. Like criminal syndicates. Or criminals.

"Could you two dolts be a little more quiet, perhaps?" chimed a third, somewhat irritated voice in as a young woman rounded the nearest corner, looking irritated, "I'm trying to make an important call here, in case you didn't notice."

"Sorry, Weiss." chuckled Ruby quickly, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. She obviously knew the slightly older girl, Jinx didn't have to be the mad genius with the doctorate in psychology that she was to see that. That she had just spoke the young woman's name was a big hint there.

Weiss, the young woman that had joined them, had snow-white hair that she kept in an off-center ponytail, and wore a pure white dress with black edging and two columns of four black buttons on the abdomen. In the short moment that Weiss turned away to let out something akin to a curse under her breath, Jinx spotted the print of a snowflake emblem on her back, pale blue, barely visible against the white.

Jinx had no idea why, but she guessed that this cold young woman liked the cold. Pun intended.

"Hey, Weiss, have you met Jay yet?" continued Ruby in an excited splutter, waving her hand into the direction of the madwoman. For a second, Weiss scrutinized the woman with the electric-blue hair, then frowned – especially as Jinx waved with a smirk on her lips. With a sigh, Weiss turned back to Ruby.

"It's fine, just don't be that loud all of the time." grumbled the girl in white, pinching the bridge of her nose, before turning back to the small screen she held in her hands, "I'm sorry, Professor Ozpin, I'll be calling you back in a moment."

"That's quite alright." replied the voice of a man from the speakers of the object that Weiss was holding – before the young woman closed it by pushing the ends of the object together, revealing that the screen happened to be nothing more but a hologram.

Immediately, Jinx felt the excitement spark up again. She needed to know how that thing worked, had to know how she could reverse-engineer it. If she could, she could surely built one for herself, Caitlyn and Vi!

Ruby had to have one of these as well. She'd ask her later.

"Weiss Schnee." offered the young woman in white as she approached Jinx and held out a hand to her, "Heiress of the Schnee Dust company."

Jinx frowned, having never heard of the company before, but decided against asking what that meant. With the way that Weiss spoke, she could only guess that the title meant a lot wherever Ruby and Weiss came from. The maniac took the hand and shook it, and decided on not being outdone, trying to impress the heiress a bit herself.

"Dr. Jay Inks, psychologist and profiler for the Piltover Police Department. I work with sheriff Caitlyn and the enforcer, Vi, and am in charge of victimology and psychological evaluation of criminals." offered Jinx with a smirk, but if the heiress was impressed, she barely showed it, merely raising an eyebrow at the madwoman, "Oh, and the local psychopath."

Weiss frowned, but didn't say a thing. Instead, she cast a confused glance into the direction of Ruby, almost as if to ask the scythe-wielding girl wherever she had run into Jinx. Well, that would be kind of a fun story, since that had happened to be the restrooms.

The heiress turned to her partner.

"Ruby, whatever are you two doing out here, anyways?" inquired Weiss with a hint of sternness in her voice, before glancing past Ruby into the bar, "Where are your brute of a sister and Blake?"

"If one of these happen to be a black-haired girl with cat ears, she's in good company. Caitlyn is with her." replied Jinx in amusement, having long figured out that Ruby and Weiss were friends of the girl with black hair.

When she saw the confused frowns of the two younger women, Jinx frowned back.

"Did I say something inconsiderate again? People usually make that face when I did..." muttered Jinx carefully, recognizing the stares.

"How do you know Blake is a Faunus?" asked Ruby carefully, narrowing her eyes at her newest acquaintance. Weiss had an equally careful expression, but was the one that noticed first that Jinx did not understand the word 'Faunus'.

"Ruby means how you know that Blake has cat ears. She usually wears a bow to hide them." explained Weiss, her frown increasing when Jinx's face lit up in understanding.

"Ah, now I understand!" chuckled the loose cannon – before she suddenly flinched and frowned at them, "Hey, wait, that was a bow? There was a bow?! It looked like kitty ears!"

Ruby let out a weak chuckle, and Weiss groaned as she found herself unable to resist a facepalm.

Leave it to Jinx to see exactly the opposite of what she was meant to see.

* * *

Another glass slammed down on the bar, followed by the sound of yet another from right aside her. Vi had long given up on counting the shots she had downed, leaving that to the barkeeper. The intoxication was slowly having it's effects on her, not enough that she'd pass out anytime soon, but enough that she could be considered a bit drunk.

She cast a careful glance into the direction of her adversary, the blonde with the golden bracelets not looking like she was going to lose anytime soon. And that despite the fact that both of them each had a few small pyramids of glasses in front of them.

People had long given up on cheering and making bets, instead staring in silent awe and shock at the two women. Even Sly was not sporting his usual grin, instead looking at the empty bottles.

"Giving up, peach?" chuckled a voice, pulling Vi out of her thoughts. She sent a glare into the direction of her opponent, but quickly picked up the next shot, not wanting to be outdone. The day that someone could outdrink her had yet to come.

Or had come for all she knew. While not going to be terribly drunk or going to pass out anytime soon, Vi doubted that her stomach would play along for much longer. The grumble coming from her right told her that the blonde probably had the same problem.

The next shot was downed. A raspy feeling spread through Vi's throat, and yet she turned the glass around and added it to the pyramid before her. She didn't even know anymore who was leading, had stopped counting, and the pyramids all looked the same.

Vi picked up the next one. Something in her was struggling, telling her not to continue. Her pride was going against it, her ego telling herself to not just stop, but to drink until the blonde was begging her for forgiveness.

The enforcer rose the glass to her lips. The smell of alcohol was making her sick. The raspy feeling spread through her throat again as she downed the contents of the glass.

But she didn't get to put the glass back down on the bar.

A complaint behind her, then a man stumbled backwards through the crowd. He slammed into the bar and fell on top of it, knocking the pyramids of glass down, shattering them as they hit the ground to Sly's feet. The barkeeper and the two contestants stared at the result in shock, though the enforcer quickly turned her head to stare into the direction the man, who had definitely been pushed, came from.

She caught a glimpse of brown and pink hair vanishing behind the elbow of a man, barely half the size of the guys that stared in silent shock at what had ended the contest.

Yang burst out of her chair, eyes suddenly turning from lavender to crimson. She grabbed the barely conscious man that had knocked over the pyramids by the collar and pulled him up, stared in anger at his face, before sending him back into the direction he had come from with an infuriated roar.

Turning back to Sly, she narrowed her eyes.

"Did you count? Who won?!"

Sly looked up from the mess of broken glass to his feet – Vi felt a hint of pity, the damage would be quite expensive – and shook his head, unable to say a thing. First time she had ever seen him speechless, that for sure.

Yang fell back into her stool with a curse, grumbling under her breath. The whole contest, for nothing! The entire challenge!

"I would've kicked your ass. I could've taken you!"

"Dream on, blondie." shot the enforcer back, smirked, "You were about to throw up."

"And you weren't, peach? You were about to throw up raspberry-flavored rainbows all over your mittens."

Vi shot out of her seat, unable to believe what she had just heard. A fist was shoved in Yang's direction, stopping just a few inches short of the blonde's nose.

"You did not just call them mittens!" growled the enforcer, narrowing her eyes at the blonde, "Mock me and my hair all you want, but no one mocks my gauntlets, or he gets to feel them!"

Intoxication got the better of both of them that moment, willingness to take risks having increased with each glass downed in their contest. Yang's lavender eyes turned to the pinkette, a spark of excitement and crimson within them, amusement spreading across her lips in a wicked smile.

"Is that an offer?" she snickered, mockingly rose an eyebrow at Vi, "You and your mittens against me and my gauntlets? We both seem to be specialized in close combat and fistfights, so I guess it's a fair fight. Somewhat. I'll try to hold back a bit."

Before Yang knew it, Vi had finished her earlier motion and had grabbed her by her collar, pulling her out of her chair.

"Screw this shit! We may not know who won this drinking contest, but if it's a fight you want, you'll get it! Bring it, blondie!" roared Vi, pushing Yang against the bar, giving her enough time to slip her hands into her gauntlets and raise them while Yang had to recover. The blonde smirked as she pushed herself off the bar and rose her own fists, the golden bracelets suddenly letting out a mechanical whirr as they extended and turned into gauntlets, catching Vi off guard.

The pinkette almost missed the chance to sidestep, Yang's punch missing her head by mere inches as Vi fell to the right.

"With pleasure, pinkie pie! Guess it's time to blow a raspberry – through the wall with a punch!" mocked the blonde as she rose her leg and used it to push Vi back, then pulling her fist back.

Vi stumbled backwards into the crowd, people rushing out of her way, making a path for her. Vi eventually caught herself, cursed, rose her fits and prepared herself to rush back at the blonde, not caring about the damages their fight would cause.

Someone else obviously did.

"Vi!"

The enforcer cringed madly as she heard the irritated voice of the sheriff, seconds before Caitlyn emerged from the crowd, rifle on her back and a scowl on her face. Someone else, a black-haired female, emerged from the crowd as well and rushed past Caitlyn – to Yang.

"Vi, what is going on here?" demanded Caitlyn to know, scowling as she took note of the smell of booze in Vi's breath and realized that Jinx had, once more, been right.

"Nothing, Cait, just a friendly fight." replied the enforcer, aware that she was lying a bit. It hadn't been quite as friendly as she made it to be.

"Yeah, what she said." chimed Yang in, ignoring the dirty glare that Vi shot into her direction. Caitlyn, only noticing Vi's opponent then, turned to see who Vi had fought against.

And let out a groan of irritation as she spotted the blonde hair of the young woman, and the golden gauntlets that still enveloped her hands. Of all the things that could've happened, of all the people Vi could've picked a fight with, it was Blake's girlfriend.

So much for 'they probably will get along'.

The sheriff and the young woman with the bow exchanged a glance, both well aware of what situation they were in, and that they could not allow to continue it like that – and that neither of them could fully stop their respective girlfriend.

"Let's take this outside." growled Caitlyn loud enough for Vi, as well as Blake and Yang to hear, "Vi! Did you cause any damages? Do you have to pay for your drinks?"

The enforcer cringed a bit at the tone of Caitlyn's voice, well aware that she was in trouble, but sent a careful glance into the direction of the bar, where Sly had begun to sweep up the shards of glass. The barkeeper looked up for a second, shook his head, then resumed his work.

Not waiting for anything else to happen, Caitlyn grabbed Vi by the arm, just above her gauntlet, and pulled her towards the entrance to leave the bar, leaving the money for her bourbon and Jinx's tequila on her table as she passed it. Just behind them, Yang was shoved towards the exit by an irritated Blake.

Neither of them noticed the small female with the brown and pink hair emerging from the crowd to hand an envelope full of money to pay for the damages to the mischievous barkeeper, and neither of them noticed as she, with a smirk, vanished in the crowd again, fully intent to slip out of the bar and watch the fight.

The small group of three females just outside the bar looked up when the door opened and Caitlyn emerged with Vi in tow, Jinx raising an eyebrow as she spotted the irritated expression of the sheriff. When the woman that Ruby and Weiss had called Blake emerged next with a blonde in tow, who she was pulling by the ear, Jinx knew that something had happened and she had entirely missed it.

"Okay, Blake, what trouble did she get herself into this time?" groaned Weiss when Blake stomped towards them and let go of Yang's ear, "I swear to god, leave her unsupervised for a minute, and she's set the forest on fire!"

"Actually, Weiss, that was you." chimed Ruby in with a chuckle that the heiress obviously didn't enjoy at all, "You remember? Back during initiation?"

Jinx chuckled as Ruby and Weiss began to argue about whatever 'initiation' had been, while Caitlyn scolded Vi for whatever had happened in here, and the blonde – Yang, according to what Ruby and Weiss had talked about earlier – tried to apologize for the same thing to Blake, who was only glaring daggers at her in silence. Sometimes, silence was a worse punishment than scolding.

A sudden, soft nudge on her shoulder from behind turned the madwoman's attention away from the scene. Turning her head to glance over her shoulder, Jinx took in the sight of the smaller woman in white and brown, her pink and brown hair thrown over her shoulders. The loose cannon couldn't hide her own smirk when she spotted the smug grin on her mute friend's face and chuckled as she turned fully to her, entering the alley aside the bar.

"Neo." she greeted the mute maniac, who mockingly bowed to her in response to her name being said, "I guess this is your work then?"

A nod as the mute smiled confirmed Jinx's suspicion, and the loose cannon leaned against the wall in amusement, crossing her arms over her chest.

"So these are the four girls you've talked about then. The cookie-addicted weapon fanatic of a leader, the grumpy heiress, the introverted catgirl and the blonde bombshell." continued the maniac with the doctorate, glancing towards the four young women, "What are you doing here, Neo? Surely not a coincidence that you're here at the same time as them."

Turning back to see the mute's explanation, Jinx watched as Neo began to move her hand in a fast, steady rhythm, knowing that Jinx could understand sign language just fine, and didn't need a slower pace.

"Ah, should've known." chuckled Jinx, turning to see Vi and the blonde, Yang, turn to each other with their gauntlets ready, "You followed them in hope of having a rematch with the blonde. I see what you mean, she's probably really strong, hm? Probably at least on par with Vi."

Neo nodded, and Jinx smirked.

"Well, looks like you won't get that fight just now. Vi never turns down a fight. She never runs from them."

Again, Neo nodded, though the smug grin on her lips only grew. After all, she had let it escalate in the first place. For what reason, Jinx didn't know, and didn't question. If it was for amusement, or to see Yang fight someone equal to her, she couldn't tell. Being a maniac herself, she knew that sometimes, you didn't have a reason for something, you just did it on a whim.

Neo began to gesture again, and Jinx followed the signs with interest, smile growing as she translated them into a message that told her that it had been Neo's intention to make them fight, though no reason for that was given. Jinx didn't need one.

"Alright. Now, please sit back and enjoy what is about to unfold, while I mingle with it a bit." smiled the loose cannon before she left the alley as well, leaving the mute to watch as she stepped closer to the other women, with Yang's team standing with Caitlyn in a safe distance to the two brawlers that were about to begin their fight.

"Time for Vi's themesong!" called Jinx out as she approached them, turning the attention to her, "She's such a loser, always ready to cry, ta-ta-ta-t..."

The loose cannon trailed off as she saw the disapproving glares of Piltover's Finest – which, by extension, she was actually part of now – and held back the mocking grin, sparked by her insanity.

"Oh, wrong one." she added in an almost nonchalant manner, shrugging, "Of course, I meant: She's such a misfit, always ready to brawl, ta-ta-ta-ta."

The madwoman with the electric-blue hair was quickly ignored by the others, disregarded with a last glance and a roll of the eyes. She didn't mind, she had achieved her goal.

As the two brawlers turned back to start their fight after all, Weiss let out a groan and turned away, muttering under her breath that 'this was stupid, she had better things to do', and pulled out her communication device to continue the call from earlier.

Jinx watched as the heiress walked towards the white car they had seen earlier, staring at the holographic screen as the call connected. The madwoman frowned – It wasn't that she disliked Weiss, but the young woman with the ivory hair was too serious for her taste. Stuck-up was the wrong way to phrase it, but it came close.

These people, serious people like Weiss, were too serious for their own good. They didn't know how to have some fun. Didn't they know that stress made your life shorter?

The madwoman turned back to the fight just in time to see both Vi and Yang charging at each other, having had the same intention: Landing the first hit. Drawing the first blood. Seriousness in their eyes. Vi's gauntlets began to howl as the pinkette charged them, Yang's eyes turned from lavender to crimson and her hair flowed wildly behind her.

Jinx smirked as she saw the determination, the will to fight. Her own fingers were itchy, desperate to reach for her own weapons and just join in on the fun, but she knew she couldn't just do that. This was a fight of brawlers, and she was no brawler.

Didn't mean she couldn't have her fun.

"This one goes with everything!" she bellowed out, pushed past Caitlyn and Blake to get to the front, and just like the mad glee that had filled her whenever she had been close to her own explosions, it filled her at that very moment, seeing the two fists about to collide, "RULES OF NATURE!"

The fists collided, the huge gauntlet that was formerly the fist of a mining rig impacting with the way smaller golden gauntlet of Yang. A sound broke through the silence, a sound that was not that of the fists impacting, but sounded like a shotgun unloading.

"And they run when the sun comes up, with their lives on the li...!"

Interrupted by something impacting with her head in between the eyes, Jinx trailed off and was sent stumbling backwards into the arms of Caitlyn. Not unconscious, but dizzy and nauseous, Jinx felt how her insanity was unleashed by the amount of pain she experienced.

Both brawlers pulled their fists back, Vi to immediately follow with a left hook, which Yang avoided by falling back. The blonde jerked her hand back, to which her right gauntlet reacted by pulling it's extension back and ejecting a single shotgun round, before returning to it's fully extended shape.

Vi frowned, stared in confusion at the single round on the ground, couldn't comprehend where it had come from – that was, until Yang swung her fist at thin air, and an object akin to a flare was shot from her gauntlet.

The enforcer didn't have the time to react, leaving her shield to absorb the force of the impact, which actually sent her sliding backwards across the ground, heels digging into the concrete in an attempt to stop her.

The cocky smile on Yang's lips made the enforcer furious. Seeing red, she charged towards Yang, who simply swung her other fist. But Vi was prepared for the flare-like shot this time, not falling for it another time, and deflected it with her right fist, letting it erupt into flames to the side.

Yang ducked as Vi's left hook came at her, nearly decapitating her, but, though Vi didn't know that at that moment, thankfully missing Yang's golden hair. A punch hit Vi into the stomach and knocked the air out of her, and she knew she had clearly underestimated Yang that moment.

But so had Yang.

What neither Yang, nor Caitlyn knew, was that Vi had changed a bit since the day that she had quit the police force to join Jinx for a while, in a way that Vi had kept silent about.

When Jinx had come to accept the bad day and the fact that she was still alive, still had a chance to change, Vi had come to accept a part about her as well.

Her silent insanity, product of the first bad day, the day she had thought she had lost her older sister.

Feeling that insanity spark up, Vi didn't care if she was out of breath after the punch. It didn't stop her from swinging her head forward, forehead colliding with that of Yang. The headbutt had the force of a jackhammer, hitting Yang when she had least expected it, and drove her backward, leaving a large opening for Vi to follow with more punches.

The first punch was more of a jab into the blonde's stomach to keep the opening existent, allowing Vi to smash Yang against the wall with a punch. The blonde simply bounced off the wall, though, and much to Vi's confusion, seemed to have gained strength by the hits, rather than losing some.

In a stance that reminded Vi more of a professional boxer, Yang came charging at her again, alternating between the left and the right as if to confuse Vi, the smug grin still on her lips, despite the blows she had just received.

She was faster than the enforcer, Vi had to give her that, more agile and with better reactions, of which Vi already had a lot. She even seemed to have a high pain threshold, like Vi herself, and Jinx, had.

Vi still saw through the pattern and smacked Yang into the side of her head, followed by a punch into the chest that sent Yang back into the wall, and when the blonde sunk down a bit, grabbed her by the right ankle with the huge gauntlets.

Yang let out a gasp as Vi picked her up by the ankle, swinging her up into the air and letting go. In awe, the others watched as Yang was thrown up, trying to regain her balance and come down on Vi with a punch, but failing to do so. And just when Yang was almost hitting the ground, Vi followed with another punch, this one with all her might.

And if not for Ruby sidestepping with her insane speed – which Piltover's Finest didn't know about yet, unaware of the four girls semblances – the weapon fanatic might as well have been decapitated by her sister slamming into her at incredible speed.

Instead, Yang flew past her, screaming, flailing her arms. And then, a crash.

It suddenly became silent. Dangerously silent, aside from the sound of a car alarm and orange blinking.

Even Vi didn't dare to move as she saw what she had just done. She knew Yang was fine, had felt that the blonde brawler could take her beating and much more.

But the uneasy feeling of dread that spread through Vi wasn't because of the brawler. It was because of the heiress in front of the white car with the huge dent in it, three of the doors blasted open by the impact of the fiery blonde that now stuck in the front-left door, that Vi felt like that.

When Yang had been thrown past the heiress, she had knocked the communication device out of the ivory-haired woman's hands, which had promptly fallen onto the ground and had, with a sound that indicated nothing good, shattered, ending the important call that Weiss had. With the headmaster of their school, Ozpin.

And that the car that now was practically folded in two, Yang crawling out of the large dent in it, was Weiss' property as well, probably didn't help at all.

"A...Ah?"

Everyone flinched at the strangled noise that escaped the heiress' wide open mouth, eyelids twitching in disbelief as she stared at both her communication device and her car. Ruby instinctively ducked behind Blake, who carefully pulled her own weapon to defend herself should Weiss go ballistic, some kind of black blade. Jinx and Caitlyn shared a worried glance.

And then, Weiss exploded in anger. A furious cry to the heavens started the heiress' rage, followed by her glaring first at Yang, and then at Vi, who still stood in the same position she had ended in after the punch, arm still extended. Vi wondered shortly what the heiress would do, glaring at her like that – and though she would've expected everything at that moment, she did not expect Weiss to suddenly turn away and stomp towards her car.

Also, she did not expect Weiss to reach inside the one door that was blasted open by the impact.

And she hadn't expected her to pull out a shiny rapier that made even Vi cringe for a second.

Weiss grabbed Yang by the collar and pushed her towards Vi, intend on joining the pointless fight in her seething rage, intent on teaching them a lesson, ready to go ballistic on them.

Little did team RWBY know, though, that Ozpin stood calmly in his office in Beacon Academy, staring at the screen in front of him that had erupted into static the moment that Weiss' scroll had gotten caught up in the crossfire between the One-Girl-Wrecking-Crew and the blonde bombshell, and calmly took a sip of his coffee in amusement that 'Team RWBY had already made new friends' in Piltover.

Back in Piltover, neither girl of the team felt that kind of elated. Yang caught herself before she stumbled into Vi, but shared a sympathetic look with the pinkette, both agreeing that the shortest of the bunch, the white heiress, definitely could be scary if she was angry. And that rapier did look rather pointy, and Vi unknowingly shared one notion with Yang: Not getting stabbed by the rapier in inappropriate places, places it clearly didn't belong.

"Weiss!" cried the youngest of the girls as she charged up to her partner, and tried to talk to the heiress that casually stalked towards the two brawlers, "Please don't be too hard on them. I'm sure they didn't do that on purpose."

"Oh, I'm sure they didn't." reassured Weiss the girl in red, though her voice was cold and unforgiving, not betraying her emotions at all, "Like I didn't do this on purpose either!"

Pulling the rapier up, the ivory-haired girl suddenly charged towards the two brawlers with the help of a glyph, leaving a thin trail of ice. Not sure when this had turned from One-Girl-Wrecking-Crew against another into the two brawlers defending themselves from the heiress, Vi pushed Yang out of the way of the attack and then avoided into the other direction herself.

"That looked like she did that accidentally on purpose, like I do sometimes." chose Jinx to comment, though shutting up as she saw the disapproving glares of Caitlyn and Blake, not eager to get punished herself.

"At least let me help you!" insisted Ruby as she once again caught up to Weiss, pulling Crescent Rose and unfolding it, turning to her older sister, "Sorry Yang, but this is a punishment you deserve. I told you to stay out of trouble when I agreed to go to a bar."

"Aw come on, Rubes, really? Turning against your sister for your girlfriend?" complained Yang, though whether or not she was serious was hard to tell by her voice alone, "And you don't even spent a single thought on who to support in this? I'm hurt!"

"RULES OF NATURE!"

"Feign hurt another time." deadpanned Blake from the side, not even attempting to help the blonde, "Or at least do it convincingly."

"Really, Blake?" moaned Yang in irritation – and barely managed to avoid the scythe, thanking herself that she and Ruby had trained often enough for her to know Ruby's fighting style, and the fact that Ruby was not serious about this.

Vi, meanwhile, dodged another stab aimed for her side, and, in an attempt to defend herself and knock out the furious heiress, swung her right fist at Weiss' head in a hook. The pale blue eyes shifted a bit and registered the fist coming for them, but Weiss made no attempt to do as much as guard herself.

Instead, a glyph appeared next to her head, acting not only like a shield, but also repelling Vi's fist into the other direction with enough force for the taller enforcer to be thrown off balance, and to knock Jinx, who had been a little too close, off her feet and onto the ground again. With the large opening presented to her, it wasn't even hard for Weiss to use her agility to repeatedly stab Vi, the enforcer's shield and armor taking the brunt of these stabs, never allowing the weapon to penetrate skin.

Vi still growled at the sharp pain from the repeated stabs.

Yang had been a match for her, but no serious problem, their similar fighting style allowing Vi to easily adapt to the brawler – If anything, Yang was, with the exception of firing a shotgun at her from the gauntlets, only capable of what Vi herself could do.

Weiss was an entirely different matter. She was fast, unpredictable (though not as much as Jinx) and used a different weapon with greater reach. That, and the fact that Weiss was smaller and more nimble than Vi, made her an opponent that Vi could not fight just like that. She had to adapt, and that in a way completely different than to Yang.

But, as it was with attacks that repeated themselves too often, one's opponent eventually saw through them – And Weiss repeated the stabs just one time too much. Vi curled her gauntlet-covered hand around the rapier, holding Weiss in place that way, and though the heiress did immediately put up a glyph in front of her as a shield, Vi's 'Vault Breaker' broke through the glyph and sent Weiss and her rapier flying.

The heiress caught herself in the most graceful backflip that Vi had ever seen, hands on the concrete and heeled boots kicking through the air. Her rapier landed only a few feet away from her, but far enough that Vi had a moment to weigh the odds.

If not for something cold enveloping her head all of sudden, making her world go dark. Something landed on her shoulders and made her stumble, combat boots shortly scraping along her armor.

"Meet Fishbones again, fat hands!"

"Jay, what the hell?!" bellowed Vi, head enveloped in the jaws of the mechanical shark, no rocket loaded into it. Her voice echoed through the whole rocket launcher, and if Jinx heard it, she simply ignored it.

The madwoman had grown tired of watching the fight, and had decided to join, turning the fight into a free-for-all, especially when the mute maniac that had watched as well joined in, too, appearing from the shadows to tackle Ruby to the side, and take Yang on.

Standing to the side in irritation, arms crossed and with emotionless expressions, Caitlyn and Blake watched their partners and the mute madwoman beating each other blue and green (with Neo gracefully avoiding every strike of the now infuriated, red-eyed Yang).

Not wanting to get pulled into the chaos as well, they shared a glance, the silent message conveyed with their eyes alone. Turning their back to the fight and heading to the bar again, the two more introverted women headed inside in hope of an intellectual conversation, leaving their partners to enjoy themselves, which they undoubtedly did, in one way.

All in all, despite Jinx's prognosis turning out to be (mostly) true, the evening wasn't that bad.

Especially when they were later joined by their partners (Neo having vanished at one point), with Ruby being only out of breath, Weiss' clothes dirty and a bit damaged, Yang having received the rapier where she certainly hadn't wanted it to be (the reason Weiss had eventually calmed down), and Jinx and Vi being beaten blue and green by one another in one of their old violent fits coming through.

As the two teams spent the rest of the night drinking together and bonding, Caitlyn wasn't even sure anymore what she had been worried about to begin with.

Yang's weekend started with a bang, after all.

* * *

A heavy groan, sounding alien to her, resounded through the room as Vi woke up. Deep down, she knew it was her own groan, but realization did not just sink in right then – though the pain did sink into her head, making her wonder what truck had hit her. The details of the night before were sketchy, though she did clearly remember getting in a fight with both Jinx and that blonde brawler they had met at the bar – Yang.

Had Yang knocked her out, after all?

The enforcer slowly opened her eyes, well aware of the additional weight on her body. The plan quickly backfired, though, when she realized just how sensitive her eyes were to the bright light of the early sun that shone into the room on that Saturday.

Though, with the headache she head, she wasn't even sure anymore if it was Saturday, or any day after that. Or what month it was. She might as well have been in coma, though the bruises on her body, still fresh from the events of the night before, spoke against that.

"Don't move so much..." came Caitlyn's less than pleased voice in response to that movement, the weight on her body shifting a bit. At least that explained where the sheriff had ended up, and how her mood was. She was in pretty much the same situation: Headache, hangover, weight on her body.

"The hell happened after we stopped fighting?" groaned Vi silently, her own voice too loud for her current situation, resounding in her throbbing head. Caitlyn shifted on her again, though she couldn't move much.

"You came back into the bar and joined me and Blake." replied Caitlyn, one hand clumsily moving around on Vi's body, trying to figure out in which direction Vi's head was, "And I think Jay convinced us to drink, her treat."

"Oh." moaned Vi in response, letting out a deep breath.

"Yeah, oh." interrupted the voice from atop Caitlyn, causing both sheriff and enforcer to cringe as the high-pitched voice echoed through their throbbing heads, "You two drank like crazy, I'm at least broke now. I knew Vi could stomach a lot, but I didn't think she'd drink so much after a drinking contest! And you, hat lady, really? I thought you knew your limits!"

"I think I did know my limits." replied Caitlyn, mostly to be the one speaking, her soft voice way more bearable than Jinx's high voice or Vi's booming groans of pain, "I think I did."

"Sure didn't look like it last night!" exclaimed the madwoman as she climbed off the comfortable pile of enforcer and sheriff, where she had spent the night. Heading for the couch, she lowered the blinds as she moved past them in an attempt to make it more bearable for Piltover's Finest, and flopped down on the comfortable piece of furniture.

"I'll be brewing some coffee in a moment, and prepare my special hangover remedy. I bet you could use some of that." chuckled the madwoman, being the only one without a hangover at the moment, "You two look like crap. Somewhat romantic with the way you're sprawled out on top of each other, somewhat uncomfortable with the knot of limbs I'm spotting from here, somewhat weird, seeing as you're both still fully dressed, but definitely like crap."

"Gee, oh why thank you, Jay, such encouraging words..." groaned Vi, but left it at that, seeing as Caitlyn brought her hand down on Vi's face in an attempt to shut her up.

"Yeah, that's all I have to offer. That, and some caffeine and my remedy." shot Jinx back with a shrug, "Don't expect me to hold your hair while you throw up."

Jinx let out a sigh as she rolled her sore shoulders, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. For a moment, it was silent in the room, save for Vi's occasional groaning, and Caitlyn shifting a bit in an attempt to make her stay on Vi more comfortable.

"Ruby wanted me to deliver you guys a message." began Jinx again after a moment of watching Piltover's Finest squirm, "She and her team agreed that it was fun to meet us and that they wanted to repeat it if they ever were in the area. She left me with a way of communicating them."

The loose cannon giggled to herself as she threw her arms into the air and let gravity do it's work, falling backwards onto the couch that she had occasionally slept on during the first weeks of her stay in the apartment, back when she and Vi were still setting the former workshop up to be Jinx's room. Zap, Saltsticks and the weird device that Jinx had created and was carrying around all the time bounced a bit into the air when the madwoman landed next to them, but neither of them fell of the couch.

"Oh, and Weiss isn't that mad. She's super rich or something, but doesn't like to use that money all the time. She can get a new device easily – I think they called it scroll – and a new car, too. She didn't even like the old one that much, she just bought it cause they can't fit all onto Yang's bike. Oh yeah, that sweet ride we saw was Yang's, I don't know if you remember that, fat hands, you were pretty smashed by the time she told us." continued the madwoman, amusement returning as she thought of the last night – and that she was practically being the source of pain for the cop duo.

"Oh, and Vi, Yang told me to remind you that she wants a proper rematch some time. Like, when they're next here. Both when it comes to that drinking contest you never finished, and the fight you never finished." Jinx trailed off, gaining a thoughtful look, "There's a lot of things you never get to finish, fat hands. Do you at least get to finish when it comes to your nightly..."

"You don't want to finish that sentence, for your own good." growled Vi, even though the maniac just continued to babble on, part of her sentence getting lost in the growl of the enforcer.

"..or do you end up unsatisfied and unfinished? I'm a psychologist, you can talk to me about that."

"The day that I talk to you about _that_ is going to be the day Garren and Katarina will start dating."

"I'm sure we could arrange that."

The loose cannon, sensing that it was best to stop screwing with the minds of Piltover's finest right then, sat up and slid off the couch, once more stretching her skinny limbs. There was coffee to prepare – and not for her, she kind of dreaded that stuff – and a remedy to create.

Jinx chuckled to herself as she stalked toward the door, utterly satisfied with how things had turned out. She had enjoyed her night, really had. The last time she had that much of fun was when she had leveled a part of Piltover with her bombs – and her past as a criminal, and how to progress from where she was at the moment, that was something she could think of another day.

Smiling widely, the loose cannon reached for the doorhandle, her mind replaying the events of the night, the new friends she had made, the fun she had, the things she had learned – And how good it had been to see Caitlyn finally having some fun.

Caitlyn. It had only been fair to tell her, Jinx was sure about that. The sheriff deserved to know that Jinx thought of her as attractive. There was no love involved, no romantic thoughts – just attraction. The chemical reaction of her body whenever Caitlyn was close.

It had only been fair to tell her. If it was the right thing, though, was something that the loose cannon doubted.

"Hey, hat lady." she called out over her shoulder, waiting until Caitlyn grumpily rose her head a bit and opened her eyes just wide enough to see the loose cannon standing in the door. Vi followed that example, one eye slowly opening up to frown into Jinx's direction.

The loose cannon rose an eyebrow in amusement, questioning if it had been a wise decision to not stop them from drinking the night away.

"My predictions were right for the most part, though you didn't have to save Vi's ass." declared Jinx smugly, enjoying that she had been right, and could rub it in, before she turned back to the door and opened it, staring out into the hallway, "What really irks me, though, is that there wasn't any..."

Both Caitlyn and Vi cringed madly when the device that Jinx had been tinkering all week and had carried around all the time, the horribly malformed and modified radio, suddenly freaked out. It began to blare in a horribly high-pitched voice, throwing itself all across the couch that it still lay on.

"WUB WUB WUB WUB WUB!" screamed the high-pitched voice emitted by the radio, leaving Jinx to gasp and let out a shriek of pure glee as she stormed for it and picked her device up.

"I knew there would be Claptrap Dubstep! I knew it!" laughed the madwoman in all her insane glee, sending Piltover's Finest into something that may as well be the descent into madness, with both of the high-pitched voices hurting their ears and resounding in their throbbing heads.

Jinx had none of that, ignoring all the groans and displeased complaints, the pleads to stop and just leave them alone, and, with the device in hand, turned to leave for the kitchen after all to brew the coffee and create her special remedy, all the time singing along.

Both Vi and Caitlyn sunk back into the pillows with groans.

The night had been extremely great, but the morning after was the worst they had ever experienced.

There was always a price to pay.

* * *

_And that would be the end of the 5th installment to the 'Bad Day'-Series, and the end of the second installment after the end of the main series._

_And just like every other time when it came to this series, my greatest thanks go to my beta-reader, Time96, who suffered through my terrible jokes and misleading concepts of this until the very end. Even he didn't know what he was in for when he started to beta-read this under a fake title. He enjoyed it, nonetheless. Hope you did, too._

_Well, moving on!_

_This time around, while still focused mainly on humor, there've been a few differences – mainly that this is not only a crossover, but my first ever crossover posted on this site. I don't think there's many series that you can have a proper League of Legends-Crossover with, but RWBY is one that it works just fine with, in my eyes. I mean, both RWBY and LoL know some kind of 'magic' but also use mechanics, we've got Vi and Yang who are pretty similar in a few aspects, as are Caitlyn and Blake, and with how Jinx is a weapon fanatic and Ruby is pretty much the same, I just couldn't ignore this idea to have this crossover as the fifth installment of the series. _

_Now, I've had way more ideas than just these here when it comes to a crossover between LoL and RWBY, but to properly use them all, I'd have to start an entirely new story (not set in the 'Bad Day'-Series) that would have multiple chapters, and I just don't have the time to do that right now. Maybe another time._

_My motivation for this installment is an entirely different one, though, and sadly no positive one, no matter the mood of this story. Now, I have been playing with the idea of this crossover for quite a while, and I actually planned to create it sooner or later – but it was the death of Monty Oum that changed my plans. That made me decide to write this early. The death of a man that had been my hero. My role model. Who had inspired me greatly and changed my life in ways that are hard to understand even for myself. I've never met him, I never got to have that chance, and it fills my heart with sadness that I now will never have the chance to do so. My thoughts are with those who knew him and were close to him, and who his death has hit hard, harder than it could have hit someone like me._

_In honor of this ambitious man, this legend, I have chosen to create this. For he will live on in the hearts and creations of those who he inspired._

_But as eloquent as I am, even I have to say: Words cannot convey what this man has done, how he has changed lives, and much he will be missed._

_Even sadder, after we had two more humorous installments to the series after the three main installments, this is still the 'Bad Day'-Series, and the next installment may be more serious in nature than this one. There is still much ground left unexplored, and we may as well move into the other direction again. Nothing as soul-crushing as 'A Final Joke', but... _

_You'll see when it'll be here. Not too soon, but soon enough._

_This is SorrowfulReincarnation, and we see each other in the next installment._

_So long~_


End file.
